Description
Book SynopsisIn recent years a wide range of non-state certification programs have emerged to address environmental and social problems associated with the extraction of natural resources. This book provides a general analytical framework for assessing the emergence and effectiveness of voluntary certification programs. It focuses on certification in the forest and fisheries sectors, as initiatives in these sectors are among the most advanced cases of non-state standard setting and governance in the environmental realm.
Paying particular attention to the Forest Stewardship Council and the Marine Stewardship Council, the author examines how certification initiatives emerged, the politics that underlie their development, their ability to influence producer and consumer behavior, and the broader consequences of their formation and spread. The analysis of the certification of forests and fisheries offers a wealth of insights from which to better understand the capacity of non-state governance programs to ameliorate global environmental problems.
Containing a detailed review of the direct effects and broader consequences of forest and fisheries certification, this book will be warmly welcomed by scholars of environmental politics and corporate social responsibility, as well as practitioners involved in non-state certification programs throughout the world.
Trade Review‘This is a very timely and thorough examination of the emergence of and role played by non-state certification schemes in addressing pressing environmental and common-resource problems.’ -- Karen Anderton, International Environmental Agreements
‘Lars Gulbrandsen’s study of certification in the area of forests and fisheries provides an authoritative discussion of the causal dynamics driving the trend, the various organizational forms displayed and the concrete and measurable impacts observed.’ -- Kathrin Ludwig and Philipp Pattberg, Transnational Environmental Law
‘Gulbrandsen’s book makes a careful and reflective investigation and comparison of the empirical cases. It presents an insightful and comprehensive analysis of factors demonstrated to be important for the emergence, functioning, and problem-solving capacity of certification schemes.’ -- Magnus Boström, Review of Policy Research
‘Transnational Environmental Governance provides both an excellent overview of the issues to be taken into account in studying voluntary certification systems, and an effective in-depth study of the forestry and fishing cases. . . highly effective as a treatment of environmental certification, and as a starting point for the study of the phenomenon.’ -- J. Samuel Barkin, Global Environmental Politics
Table of ContentsContents: 1. Introduction 2. Non-state Governance: An Analytical Framework 3. The Emergence of Forest Certification 4. The Adoption and Impact of Forest Certification 5. Forest Certification in Sweden and Norway 6. Spillover to the Fisheries Sector: The Marine Stewardship Council 7. The Adoption and Impact of Fisheries Certification 8. The Spread and Institutionalization of Certification Programs 9. Conclusions References Index
